Encyclopædia Iranica

Advanced Search

DṚNABĀJIŠ

DṚNABĀJIŠ, name of the fifth month (July-August) of the Old Persian calendar, equivalent to Akkadian Ābu and Elamite Zillatam (several attestations in the Persepolis tablets only; see Hinz and Koch, pp. 1164, 1299-1300, 1305; cf. CALENDARS i). It is one of three month names that are not attested in the original Old Persian form; it can be reconstructed only from the Elamite rendering Tur-na-ba-(iz-)-zí(-iš), Tu-ur-na-, Tar-na- (and some minor variants). In some instances the variant Tur/Tar-na-ba-(iz-)zí-ya-iš, reflecting *Dṛnabājya-, occurs (cf. the Elamite doublet Bakeyatiyaš/Bakeyatiš,reflecting OPers. *Bāgayādya-/Bāgayādiš, with corri-genda; see Hinz, p. 66). The various renderings lead to reconstruction of an original form *Dṛna-bāji- or the like, the etymological interpretation of which is not fully established, though the second element is surely Old Persian bāji- “tribute, duty, tax”; Walther Hinz (p. 66: bāži-) understands the form as “(month of) the harvest tax.”